Brief
Reminder
The deadline for submissions in the 500th
cast celebration is Christmas Eve. We’d love to hear from you, and you
might win an individual license for life. If you don’t know
what that
is, go here. (We've sent this newsletter out early, so that you have some extra days to get your entry in.)
Feel free to bring tears to our eyes. All the others
have! ;-)
Assume
Positive Intent
We’ve said before that why matters about the
future, but not about the past. Think about that for a second.
Why matters when we’re thinking
about the future. It helps our associates make decisions about their
work. When someone knows why they are doing something, they
can choose the path that addresses the why rather than just the what.
In the Army, Mike and I learned this through
something called, “Commander’s Intent.” If soldiers knew what their
leader wanted, they could make better choices when the proverbial stuff
hit the fan. As the saying goes, no battle plan survives first contact
with the enemy. So everybody better understand more than just the
details of the plan.
BUT, why doesn’t matter when we’re
thinking about why our directs did something. Look, people always
intend to have good outcomes. When a direct makes a mistake, and, as a
manager, we choose to point it out, they often want to talk about why
they did what they did. Of course they do! Their intent is always good!
Ask yourself – do you really intend
to go out and make mistakes? Of course you don’t. Well, neither do your
directs. That means they meant to do it right, but it came out wrong.
That’s not necessarily great, but it beats hell out of them intending
to mess it up.
But we managers sometimes slip here, and we
attack their intentions. We assume that they have to have had a
bad idea at the heart of what they did.
Alas, it’s just not so. And, if you know the
feedback model, you know we don’t do ourselves any good by talking
about their intent, or their mindset, or their emotional state, or
their attitude. They can argue about that stuff.
So, here’s what I’ve learned. Assume
they meant well. Because they did. Assume
they were trying to solve the problem. Because they were.
Assume they were trying to help. Because they were.
Assume positive intent. Because that’s what they had.
You’ll let go a little of the anger you
sometimes carry around. It will make your job a little easier. And
you’ll be right more often.
And you’ll be able to do what Mike does –
chuckle when he gives feedback – a lot more often.
And
To all of our community members, wherever
you may be in this vast and glorious world: may there be peace in your
home and health in your family during this special season.
And for those soldiers and sailors around
the globe ensuring the peace that too many of us take for granted - and
too few of us have - I offer you our thanks and prayers for
safety.
Merry Christmas all.
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